around the farm ~ easter basket wheat grass

By marybethrew, on March 14th, 2013

(easter 2011 wheatgrass, half-grown)

the wheatgrass easter basket idea has made the blog rounds for years and i don’t know whose original idea it was or i’d give credit. we are a week into our easter grass growth for 2013, but believe me, there is still plenty of time if you want to do this project. wheatberries are miraculous!

this is what we did. we soaked about 2 tablespoons of wheat berries in a mason jar overnight. the next day, we drained out the water and spread the soaked berries onto the damp soil in our basket (there is a plastic bag lining the basket, but it’s also not a basket we’re super attached to. the thrift store usually has baskets aplenty for cheap, or if you want you can swing by and borrow one of the 47 i’m not currently using for my farmer’s market booth).

then we used a spray bottle to keep the berries moist for the next few days, while they sprouted. (according to quinn’s teacher at ols, spray bottles are great for building up children’s hand strength for skills such as writing.)

the first few days of growth are miraculous to behold. you can walk away for an hour and come back and see they have doubled in size. rich was gone all day monday for work and rehearsal and when he saw them that evening he said, and i quote, “holy cow!”

here’s yesterday morning:

and here’s from this morning:

so what i’m saying is, you still have plenty of time (and we are going to have to mow the lawn.)

~~~

around the rest of the farm, similar signs of miraculous green life are showing themselves.

between the sorrel (a perrenial green, meaning nearly effortless) and the overwintered asian greens, there is plenty of salad right now.

volunteer/weedy greens like miner’s lettuce and chickweed are all around, in case anyone wants to add some earth tones to that salad.

daffodils are everywhere. we have been enjoying the hummingbirds who’ve been visiting our feeder as well as some of the early flowering shrubs.

trying not to get too carried away with planting seeds yet, and where i haven’t been able to help myself, building them little shelters to help them get through any unforeseen inclement weather in the months ahead. it’s hard to remember we can have that this time of year, when it’s as lovely as this!

i know many of you cannot even think about putting any seeds outside just yet, so that’s where sprouting in a jar and growing easter basket grass comes in handy. needing to grow things is a year-round need, regardless of which hardiness zone we may call home.